Beer is ordinarily dispensed from beer kegs by gas pressure within the keg. The outlet for the beer is usually at the top of the keg and the outlet is a down tube that extends to a location near the bottom of the keg so that gas pressure on the surface of the beer in the keg displaces the beer upward through the down tube to an outlet at the upper end of the keg.
When beer is dispensed at locations where gas under pressure cannot be maintained in the keg, for example at outdoor picnics, it is usual to turn the keg upside down so that the beer runs out of the keg by gravity. This invention provides a valve construction by which the valve assembly at the top of the keg has a gas inlet and a beer outlet, but the construction is such that when the beer keg is turned upside down, the beer runs out by gravity through a hose line that would otherwise be used as a compressed gas inlet to the keg, and there is another valve that can be adjusted to let atmospheric air enter the upside down keg and flow upward through the "down tube" to supply air to the space in the keg above the beer to replace beer that flows from the low end of the keg through the usual gas inlet passage.
While the invention is primarily used for beer, the assembly can be used for other beverages, if desired, and other advantages and features will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.